Lameness in our doodle, Tasha

[Julie C]

Good morning, I love this site and normally come here each morning to see the wonderful doodle pictures and read the discussions.  But this morning I need some help.  My husband and I adore our 5-year-old Tasha and she is such a joy.  She is about 75 pounds.  She has always been a very active girl and loves to play but she has had some overuse injuries in the past, pretty much always with her right rear leg.  She had x-rays a couple of years ago when she was limping after doing a lot of hiking and playing.  Nothing major showed up on the x-rays, just a very mild dysplasia, and a finding of a transitional vertebra, which the vet did not think was causing any problem.  About 2 times a year since then, she will come up limping a bit on that leg but with about a week of rest and some Metacam she has always gotten back to normal.  She is a typical doodle and loves to play and run and jump.  We try to limit her but you all know how difficult that can be!
Fast forward to the beginning of February, she had been doing her typical playing and walking, nothing major though, and she seemed to be favoring that leg again.  About a day after we noticed it, she was just sitting in the back yard not doing anything when we heard her yelp very loud.  She came running to us holding her right rear leg up and shaking.  i know she was in pain but also frightened by it.  Within a couple of minutes, she was walking again and putting weight on the foot/leg.  She seemed fine the rest of that day and for the next few days.  Then about 4 days later the same thing happened.  We took her to the vet the next day and they checked her out.  We did not have x-rays taken that day but they did check her past x-rays.  She showed no pain when the vet checked her leg and did some testing on her.  The vet prescribed Metacam for a week along with rest and quiet.  Tasha seemed to do better for the week and she seemed to limit herself with stairs and jumping on things.  Because she seemed better, we may have jumped the gun a bit with exercise.  We took her for 2 short walks last weekend, maybe half a mile each time. She seemed fine but did seem to favor her leg on Monday.  Last night she was outside when we heard her yelp and saw her run for the door.  She was shaking again and in a lot of pain.  She allowed us to hold her and massage her leg and hip.  After about 5 minutes, she was putting weight on the leg again, but we could tell it was very tender.  It is almost like when we as humans get a charley horse and then the pain goes away as well as the tightness.  I have read about knee injuries and hip dysplasia but her symptoms just don't seem to fit.  I was just wondering if anyone else had anything similar with their doodles or had any thoughts. I know this is very long but it's hard to explain what has been happening in just a few sentences.  Thanks for listening.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Did they do x-rays?  I would take her to a specialist to get a true and final diagnosis.  When our Springer tore his CCL, he had a complete tear and could not put any weight on the leg at all. However with a partial tear they can.

[Lina]

Hi Julie --  The very same thing happened to my Emily about 8 months ago, same leg, same symptoms.  I think it had to do with her jumping high to catch a ball but I am not quite sure.  THe very first thing Vet tested was for ACL Tear.  They needed to put Emily under for that to test all sorts of movements, cant do in normal X-ray.  Came back negative.  Vet did not believe was Hip Dysplasia and ended up telling me it was a minor disc displacement in lower back which he would would be able to be 100% sure about with an MRI which we decide to postpone for a couple of weeks to see if she got better with rest.  So I kept her on lead for all walks, inside the house most of times and no ball+3 weeks of Metacam (daily first then every other day).  In addition I started giving her Synoquin (Glucosamine supplement) which I have continued until now.  She got better after 3 weeks and I continued to restrict her movement (with the help of my dog walker) for another 3 months.  She seems fine now, but every now and then I still notice a very slight pull in her leg but nothing major and not yelp or pain.  The Vet told me if she did not get better he would add hydrotherapy to it.

[Julie C]

Hi Lina,  Thanks for your reply.  Tasha's injury was because of her bouncing around and jumping also originally.  You know having a doodle it's hard to keep them from playing - they are just such happy dogs!  Our vet also tested for a tear and that was negative.  She doubts also that it is a partial tear with the way Tasha is using the leg.  Tasha had a soft tissue injury a couple of years ago and about once or twice a year since then she will favor that leg a little but never had severe pain like she did last week.  She had x-rays done back then and there were no major findings.  So the vet now is leaning toward thinking it could be a bit of arthritis or a pinched nerve or like you said possibly something involving a disc.  Like your Emily, Tasha seems to respond to the rest and the Metacam.  She has been taking Dasaquin (glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM) for a couple of years now so we're hoping that is helping also.  It is very encouraging to hear that Emily got so much better after your patience with the medication and rest.  How much were you able to let her do in the 3 months after the initial 3 weeks of rest? 

[Lina]

She was free around the house but not allowed up the stairs or in the couch (she had been avoiding that herself but with Metacam pain goes away...). Also no playing with ball or anything that made her run/jump. Slower walks on lead. Not easy for a doodle... The alternative would be keeping her in crate, but I tried my best to avoid that since my Emily does not care much for crates. In the end 3 weeks went by faster than I thought, and we we careful with her for about 3 months. She is normally taken for a long walk at least once a day with another 4 dogs off-leash but te dog walker kept her on lead for that period.

[Julie C]

It's amazing how similar Tasha's symptoms and actions are to what Emily's were.  We're basically doing the same thing with Tasha because she does not like being in a crate either, never did even as a puppy.  I appreciate the added information you gave - it's very encouraging.  Thanks again!

[Stella]

Did the vet test her patella (knee cap)?  She may have a luxating patella that is sliding in and out of the joint.  The problem with x-rays is that they only really show the bones, not any of the soft tissues such as ligaments.  If it continues it might be worth requesting a referral to a a specialist for further investigation.  You might also try taking her to a canine rehabilitation specialist (doggy physiotherapist!).  They will do a thorough assessment, give you a clinical impression and teach you suitable exercises to help strengthen up the right muscles.  I think you are in the USA?  You can look for a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Therapist at: 

http://www.caninerehabinstitute.com/Find_A_Therapist.html

or

http://www.utcaninerehab.com/united-states.asp

[Julie C]

Hi Stella - The vet did test her patella and there was no positive sign.  Tasha was also very tense at the visit, as she usually is, so there is still a slight possibility of the patella sliding out and the vet said if she does not recover well that will be a possibility to look into further.  Thanks for the information about rehabilitation.  We will look into that possibility further as to what is available in our area because I would like to know how to strengthen those muscles properly.  We live in Ohio and close to Michigan so are close to larger cities.  Thanks for your reply.